I have a question about blended gasoline and was wondering if any forum members have experienced similar circumstances to what I have encountered.

I realize that bio fuels produce less energy than gasoline by volume, but I was quite surprised what happened in real world driving while using the products. I live in SW PA, and not all of our fuel pumps advertise a percentage of blended Ethanol, so I assume it is not a blended mixture that I am purchasing here.

I have been making monthly trips to NY State, a distance of 1000 miles round trip. When purchasing PA fuel , I average 28 1/2 mpg going to NY. This is actual mileage, measured by the gallons purchased divided into the miles driven.

When I leave NY for the return trip, I purchase fuel that is labeled "10% Ethanol mixture." During the same trip back, same distance, roads, speed etc, I average about 24 -24 1/2 mpg, a difference of 4+ mpg. These figures are quite accurate and have happened almost exactly the same on three successive trips. Same gas stations, same distances, same equipment.

If the Ethanol gave me nothing, and it's volume reflected 10% of the total, I might be able to justify a difference of almost three miles per gallon. Can the ethanol blend actually reduce the effects of the mixture in which it is blended? My difference is larger than the actual amount being used in the blend.

Has anyone else experienced this affect?

Gard

Welcome to the ethenol hoax.....

Ethenol is no substiute for oil...drill now

What's more, boat and airplane engines are seriously damaged by ethanol if it's mixed in, so I assume cars/trucks are too.  It ruins the seals and stuff.

When the pump says "may contain up to 10% ethanol" you are gonna lose 10% on your mileage.

I drive an 03 F150 to work, 42 miles one way. When they came out with this junk I could tell right away. I went from ~19mpg to ~17. With a 27+- tank thats 1 trip that I lost.

Ethanol can't shipped through the pipeline. I don't know where they blend it but about a month ago I filled up and before I got off the service station lot (thats another joke "service station") I could tell that the last load they got didn't have the ethanol in it. More power and I did get my mileage back. I guess thats why they have "may contain up to" on the pump.

It ain't no fluke its junk.

I don't know Towfoo. If there is a difference, it's nominal. In many years of many trips, I've never seen this disparity in mileage until this ethanol situation.

I went on this ethanol web site, which offers many conflicting studies. It's no wonder people are confused.

http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol.html

Gard

I have an 07 Chevy Tahoe that is the "Flex Fuel Vehicle". Chevy recommends E85. I can run either in it and have very little difference in mileage. I have filled up at a station that advertised "No Alcohol". Ran mileage on the tank of 15.7 mpg. The next tank at .10 cents less said on the pump "up to 10%" resulted in 15.7 mpg. Since then, I buy where gas is cheapest and my mileage will vary from 15.5 mpg to 15.9 mpg for my normal driving.

I haven't run E85 yet. Only one station that I just became aware of that carries it around here. $3.25 per gallon. It is in downtown Oklahoma City. About 20 miles away from my commute.

A friend of mine with an engineering background, just sent me this explanation of why an ethanol blend gets less mileage.

"Adding 10% ethanol to gasoline will lower fuel costs, but not necessarily
driving costs. Ethanol contains less heat energy than gasoline but this
reduction in power is minimal compared to the decrease in fuel economy because
of the additional oxygen released from the ethanol in the combustion chamber.
Adding oxygen in the fuel improves combustion efficiency, but on modern fuel
injected cars, this extra oxygen passes out with the exhaust gases and the
oxygen sensor detects it. This is reported to the fuel injection computer which
calculates the engine is operating in a lean fuel mixture state and adds more
fuel to compensate. Fuel mileage drops."

I think the bottom line is that we've been mandated a product, that will do little to help our situation.

Gard

  That was my thought too... LOL... When I was in SanAntonio TX, (back in the 1980s, when there was REAL gasoline), and I was making trips between Killeen, Texas and SATX, I got better mileage going south... my "navigator" who held the map, said "Why of course, because we're going down".

Well, they were kind of right.  San Antonio is at about 701 feet elev and Killeen is at about 827 feet elev.

I ran the E85 for the first time. It cost 3.25 per gallon. Gas w/10% was 3.49. Mileage with the E85 was 12. Mileage on the 10% or regular is 15.5 to 15.9. Figuring on an average of 15.7, if the E85 is 3.25 then gas has to be 4.26 for it to even out. For the math gurus out there, if someone catches a mistake on the math, let me know, but the way I figured it was on 30 gallons. E85 is costing me 27.083 cents per mile and gas at 3.49 costs 22.23 cents per mile.

A follow up on my initial posting. Last weekend I duplicated my previous PA to NY to PA round trip. Filling up in PA with a non blended fuel, I averaged just over 28 mpg on the first half of the trip. Upon my return, instead of a blended fuel, I  topped my tank in NY with a non blended fuel and averaged just under 29 mpg.

This is a difference of between 4 and 5 mpg, when comparing a non blended fuel to one with a 10% blend. The pricing is very similar. This doesn't seems to be a very realistic way to save fuel, and energy imports.

Gard